Quickly see differences between brands like Avaya, Mitel, Cisco, ShoreTel, 8x8, Panasonic, etc and compare over 94 phone systems by 52 brands for small to big business. Our latest Spring 2010 edition of the chart also compares PBX and Business VoIP systems side by side so you can make an educated comparison of your options. This analysis is prepared in an easy to use Excel spreadsheet so you can edit and add information to suit your analysis and presentation needs.

There’s no denying that today’s workforce is “mobile.” Inspired by the ease and simplicity of their own personal devices, today’s workforce relies on a variety of tools to accomplish their business tasks — desktops, smart phones, tablets, laptops or other connected devices — each with varying operating systems.
The specific tasks they need to accomplish? That depends on the person. But it’s safe to say remotely logging in and out of legacy, desktop, mobile, software as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud applications is a given.
And the devices on which they work? They could be owned by the enterprise or the end user, with varying levels of company oversight, security and management. The result? An overabundance of “flexibility” that leads to fundamental IT challenges of security and manageability.

Enabling greater flexibility and productivity without the need for large capital investment, the benefits of Cloud Communications enable businesses to free themselves from the limitations of traditional, office-based phone systems.

Many premises-based phone system (PBX) manufacturers claim that the five year costs of their systems are lower than an equivalent cloud alternative. What the premises guys don’t tell you about is all the extra little hidden costs that come as a result of the limitations of the hardware and software in their systems. This guide will provide you with useful questions to ask your PBX manufacturer to ensure that you're getting the full picture on the cost of their system.
Questions to Ask During an Evaluation:
• Have you sized this system for my peak demand?
• Have you factored in the cost of site redundancy?
• How many hours of call recording are included?
• How is mobility supported? Do calls route in an out of the PBX for call treatment?
• What are the annual maintenance costs of the hardware and software in this system?
• Which third party systems have you integrated this PBX with?

For the 5th year in a row, 8x8 is a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide. See what makes us different and why you should consider the cloud to expand or replace aging, inadequate business phone systems, meeting services, & contact center equipment.

There is a tectonic shift in the way we work. We expect the same kind of intuitive, tactile experience with our workplace technology that we now take for granted with our smartphones, tablets and gaming systems. We expect our devices to talk to each other and update automatically. Virtual meetings should be as easy to set up as a video chat, and whatever we need to do our jobs should be as easy to tailor as a streaming music or video application.

With today’s ‘touch of a button’, always-on lifestyles, consumers expect information to be quickly accessible to customer-facing staff. They expect the same efficiency they get from their own phones or devices. Yet all too often business data is mired in outdated, slow systems and applications. These systems are difficult to work with, making each call or transaction slow to process as a result. This impacts customer satisfaction and reduces throughput. It affects productivity.

There’s no denying that today’s workforce is “mobile.” Inspired by the ease and simplicity of their own personal devices, today’s workforce relies on a variety of tools to accomplish their business tasks — desktops, smart phones, tablets, laptops or other connected devices — each with varying operating systems.
The specific tasks they need to accomplish? That depends on the person. But it’s safe to say remotely logging in and out of legacy, desktop, mobile, software as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud applications is a given.
And the devices on which they work? They could be owned by the enterprise or the end user, with varying levels of company oversight, security and management. The result? An overabundance of “flexibility” that leads to fundamental IT challenges of security and manageability.

It’s time to find a new communications solution for your company.
Before you start your search, consider this: No two company’s operations are quite the same and
different organizations benefit from different types of phone systems. Understanding the factors that are
driving many businesses to move their communications to the cloud will help you determine if a cloud
communications solution is right for you.
Here are seven operational trends propelling today’s move to Unified Communications as a Service
(UCaaS).
Check off each statement that rings true for your company. The more checks, the more your company
will excel in the cloud.

Massive amounts of data are being created driven by
billions of sensors all around us such as cameras, smart
phones, cars as well as the large amounts of data across
enterprises, education systems and organizations. In
the age of big data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine
learning and deep learning deliver unprecedented
insights in the massive amounts of data.

Business phone systems may not attract the same attention or achieve the same acclaim that computers, smart phones and tablets regularly receive. You won’t hear of too many publicized conferences or Twitter trends but that does not negate their importance.

Today’s workforce is increasingly nomadic. Employees use personal and company-owned devices – desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones with various operating systems – to access corporate resources over different networks from virtually anywhere. Roaming users and cloud-based applications have eroded the network perimeter where enterprises have traditionally focused their security controls.
SymantecTM provides a complete endpoint solution powered by the world’s largest civilian Global Intelligence Network (GIN) to help organizations secure their enterprise and mobile workforce across traditional and modern OS devices used over any network and from any location.
Read this white paper to find out more.

Video conferencing is rapidly moving out of the conference room and onto the desktop, smartphone, and tablet. Thanks to inclusion of video as a core UC component, enterprise technology leaders are increasingly deploying video to individuals as part of their unified communications initiatives, while integrating personal video into room systems, and enabling conferencing beyond the enterprise.

Traditional phone systems present two main problems for businesses: limited features and high costs. As a result, small businesses are migrating to Internet phone systems that deliver advanced communication over broadband connections.

A Practical Guide to IDF/MDF Infrastructure Implementation
Once relegated to early adopters and casual home users, VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) has matured. An essential element of any unified communications (UC) system, it is now the standard method of voice communication in business, education, government and healthcare. If your organization has not already migrated to VoIP, the question is not so much if it will, but when. Cost is the primary driver, since the data network performs double duty by carrying voice traffic as well. VoIP also offers capabilities that far exceed traditional phone systems, with unified communication platforms promising to integrate messaging, mobility, collaboration, relationship management, zoned security, intelligent call routing, disaster recovery, video, teleconferencing, status updates and other advanced features.
The transition to VoIP presents a number of challenges, including
assessing the ability of your network to handle not only additio

Black Box can help you get the most out of your technology investment. We partner with customers to identify the right solutions for strategic IT needs that add value to your business. Our portfolios of Wired/Wireless, UCC, and IT Service solutions, and our depth of expertise, deliver positive business outcomes for evolving IT business scenarios.
Black Box takes a vendor-independent approach to deliver the right solution, on the right network. Our long-term, established relationships with best-in-class IT technology providers allow us to offer objective, vendor-neutral solutions designed to meet a broad range of IT requirements.
With more than 4,000 team members & 200 offices in 150 countries, we offer global capabilities with local expertise, and are committed to driving business success through IT excellence. Our passion to IT communications is unsurpassed, and we will work with you to find the ideal solution for today’s challenge while helping to anticipate tomorrow’s needs.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are being implemented by a variety of companies looking for a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Without customer loyalty, many companies won’t be able to thrive and grow. Today’s consumers are more demanding because they have a greater variety of choices, including doing business on the Internet and via automated phone systems. Many expect access to customer service 24 hours a day.

Marketers have been limited to bland options for sending communications to consumers on their mobile phones. With the introduction of Apple's iPhone and operating systems like Google's Android and Palm's Pre/Pixi, now offering similarly rich user experiences, you have the opportunity to reach your customers, anywhere, any time, on their mobile devices.

Mobile testing requires a di¬fferent approach. This white paper takes an exhaustive look at challenges today in testing mobile apps and websites and why testing in the cloud can improve your ROI and efficiency.

Enterprises are increasingly looking to expand their ALM capabilities to include mobile application testing. Users of HP’s Unified Functional Testing (UFT), formerly QuickTest Pro, now have an option to perform mobile functional testing (regression) with access to real mobile devices hosted in the cloud, leveraging the native test automation capabilities found in UFT.

A look inside the latest World Quality Report* and a conversation with Sogeti's Jean-Pascal Duniau. This report, published by Capgemini, Sogeti, and HP is based on interviews with 1,553 respondents in 25 countries uncovers a number of new developments in the testing / QA market and an increased change of pace. With a heightened focus on mobility and the demand for testing in the cloud gathering pace, this growing demand means that companies are having to re-evaluate their resources and strategies.

Talk just got cheaper. Thanks to the Internet, you no longer have to invest in expensive business PBX phone systems or pay handsomely for long distance calls. Internet phone systems can provide you with the same features you are accustomed to at a fraction of the cost. And they can go even further, enhancing your productivity and giving you new ways of getting your work done.